|
The days of 4 channels are long gone and thankfully there is now much more choice no matter how you chose to watch television.
Here are the options available
- Freeview
- Freesat
- Cable TV
- Sky
- Broadband TV
- Other options
FreeView
FreeView provides a good range of TV and radio channels and is free, apart from the standard television licence fee. There are a number of ways to get free view:
- Digital Televisions
- Set top box
- PVR (personal video recorder)
- Windows Vista or Media Centre
Freesat
Freesat is an alternative to sky that is free to view. There are even some high definition channels available. If you have a Sky dish already then all you need is the set top box and you are done.
Pretty much everyone in the UK can get Freesat. Some flats and rented properties do not allow the installation of satellite dishes on the building. If you live in a flat, leased or rented property its best to check with your building manager
Cable TV
If you street has cable then you have the option to have your phone, broadband and television provided through high speed fibre optic cables. There are a number of bundled services offered by local cable companies and can be a cost effective solution if you want all three services. To find out more about getting cable TV in your area visit Virgin Media. Uswitch offer a helpful comparison between Cable providers including what you can get in your area
Sky TV
Both High Definition and Standard definition television channels are delivered via a set top box and satellite dish. Sky also offer bundling with phone and internet but they are delivered though the telephone line and not through the sky dish.
You have the following options with Sky
- Sky Digibox
- Sky Plus – allows you to record TV onto a hard disk and watch later
- Sky HD – allows you to view high definition television channels as well as standard definition.
Sky offer a range of packages and are keen to grow their market share so often offer subsidised equipment to get you to subscribe. For the latest deals visit the Sky website
Sky boxes also have the ability to output to more than one television. In addition, Sky offer a service where you can get an additional dig-box installed in your home allowing your to watch different channels at the same time.
Sky offers the most variety of channels and pretty much everyone in the UK can get it. Some flats and rented properties do not allow the installation of satellite dishes on the building. If you live in a flat, leased or rented property its best to check with your building manager
Broadband TV
This is an emerging technology enabling you to stream TV channels over your broad band connection. Many TV broadcasters offer online feeds to channels either via a website of by downloading an application such as the BBC’s iPlayer.
This can be a good option in conjunction with a Media Centre as you can watch shows that you have missed recording.
With Broadband TV you can also watch programmes from overseas as well as internet only broadcasts. There are a number of websites which provide links to the online television streams such as Broadband-TV.net
Broadband coverage in the UK is now pretty good but streaming media is very bandwidth hungry so to stream live you would need a pretty fast connection. You should also check any limits that apply on your broadband connection as you may find you easily go over them and find your service stopped or throttled back if you download too many media files.
Other options
In terms of live TV the above are pretty much the main options you have.
DVD Rental
If you are interested in watching films for example there are a number of companies offering rental DVDs delivered to your home. These services all work in a similar way.
- You log on to the website and make a list of the DVDs you want to watch.
- They will post out the disk or disks (depending on the package chosen).
- You watch them
- You post them back and they send out the next disk in your list
Film Download
This is not currently widely available in this country primarily because of the Film industries obsession with digital rights management and unauthorised watching of their films.
However, once a solution has been found for this film downloads will be a big industry in this area as this provides an environmentally friendly, cost efficient way of accessing media on demand.
File Sharing
This section would not be complete with out mentioning file sharing and peer to peer sharing. People share their movie collection online and others can download it. It is illegal and whilst there have not been widespread prosecutions there is always the risk of being prosecuted and fined.
In addition, there are malicious files being shared as well as the media being incomplete or of a poor quality.
|
